HELP!! Chicken with odd behavior bullied by all hens - trying to reintroduce him to the flock?

[fiadhdakoo]

I hatched 8 chicks (currently 8-9 weeks old) and At around 5 weeks old one day they began to beat my speckled Sussex rooster (I think he's a boy!). He was beat up and badly injured and dying. I brought him inside and nursed him and I was shocked to see he made it. He had really bad head injuries but over the past couple of weeks I'm letting his feathers grow back and it's been successful and he's as healthy as any of the other chickens. I have him in a run barriered off to the other chickens during the day and at night I pop him in a crate in the garage, always fully fed and watered. The other chickens don't really show him any bother, I think they forget he's there mostly. I have been doing this for weeks and now that his feathers are growing back I've considered popping him in with the other chickens. So I put him in with the flock for about ten minutes and it went so bad. I have never seen my chickens peck at each other but the minute he got in their run they all went for him and attacked him. Even the hens yes. There was so much aggression in the run I had to take him out. How can I reintroduce him to the flock in a casual way? He was terrified. It's been weeks and yes he hasn't been with the flock and they must see him like an outsider but he's been around them every day because of the run barrier. They may have felt threatened by him in their space. Maybe it's the pecking order but it felt way too aggressive. When I put him in, He defended himself the first time a chicken attacked him but every other time ran away.

He is very friendly towards me too but at the same time he's terrified of me. he sometimes has weird behaviours. Like being on the ground and jumping on my shoulder/arm and trying to jump on my dogs back. He's not aggressive towards us, just strange. He has his mouth open a lot and chirps so loudly when I leave him in the run and wants to get out. when I pop him in the crate he chirps loudly. I'm assuming He's lonely. I sometimes put a calmer bantam his age in with him to keep him company yet he still cries for me. He always have full food and water and knows how to drink and eat. He's so vocal. It's hard to understand him but I love him, I think maybe his head injuries made him a bit crazy if you know what I mean. He never showed any weird behaviors when he was younger before his injuries but he was always one of the friendliest of the flock.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You say there is a barrier between him and the flock. Is this barrier like a fence that they can see each other through? Is it chicken wire, hardware cloth or something like that?

You also say you put another chickrn in with him, I assume the two of them get along okay?

I don't think the head injury itself made your chick act weird, I think that as a result of him being separated from the flock and you taking such good care of him, he is now just very bonded to you.

I think the best thing you can do us to stop handling him, stop allowing him to jump on you, and keep him in with the bantam that he gets along with. Ignore him when he cries and as far as possible, don't respond to him or even let him see you. He needs to detach from you and remember that he is a chicken. Add another bird in with him if you can find one that won't hurt him, if possible. After a day or two, add a fourth one and let them all live together for a week or so. Then open the barrier between those four and the rest of the flock if possible, so they can all mingle together instead of putting him into the flock's space by himself like an intruder.

Hopefully, the flock will accept the four chicks together instead of singling out the one newcomer. Be sure to have "stuff" in the area for the chicks to hide behind, get under and on top of. This can be a chair lying on its side, a sheet of plywood leaning on the fence, an upside-down bucket, etc.

Good luck!